There are a few areas you should
check off every time you open and close your seasonal home.
In general, it's important to look at security, your
electrical system, and your water system.

Closing your
seasonal home

SecuritySecurity in the off-season can sometimes be a problem.
There are a number of steps you can take to help protect
your seasonal home and its contents:

If you have any neighbours who
stay there year-round, ask them to watch your home.
Perhaps they could park a car in the driveway to help
make the home look occupied

If you leave the electricity
on, you can use portable timers to turn lights on and
off at specific times

To enhance security around the
house, install outdoor motion sensors that flood the
selected area with light whenever movement is detected

You can also choose to have
outdoor lights automatically go on at night and off at
dawn by installing photoelectric cells

Consider a security system
that is monitored by a reputable local security firm. A
basic system offers protection against burglaries. More
sophisticated systems include smoke alarms and carbon
monoxide detectors. If you have such a system, inform
your security company when you are leaving for the
off-season and ensure they have your contact information

Tightly close your fireplace
damper to prevent animals from getting in through the
chimney

Electrical system
Some people choose to shut off electricity to their home in
the off-season by throwing the main switch at the fuse box.
If you do this, be sure to turn off all major appliances,
your water heater, and electrical room heaters before you
turn off the main switch. This will ensure a smoother and
safer start-up when you re-open your home.

If you leave your electricity on to
operate security systems or lighting, you should:

Turn off the power supply to
your major appliances at your main panel

Turn off the power supply to
any space heaters. Otherwise they may turn on during
cold weather

Water system
Turn off the power to your hot water tank and drain it. Here
are the steps to follow:

Remove fuses or shut off main
breaker to disconnect power to your water heater

Open hot water tap at the
sink. Tap must be at a higher level than the tank

Attach a hose to the tank's
drain valve located at the bottom of the tank and direct
hose towards basement drain or outdoors. Opening to drain
or outdoors must be lower than drain valve to siphon out
the water

Open drain valve and drain
tank completely. Once tank is completely drained, remove
hose and close drain valve

If you're closing the house
for the winter, shut off the water to the house and
drain the cold water from all the taps. This will
prevent your pipes from freezing and bursting

Opening your
seasonal home

Security

Call your security company to
let them know that you are back

Check your home for any signs
of damage or vandalism

Electrical system

Visually inspect your hydro
meter and power lines for damage. If a power line is
down or damaged, stay clear and call Hydro One Networks
power outage and emergency number immediately at
1-800-434-1235

Inspect visible wiring to
outdoor lighting fixtures, water pumps and other
equipment. If wires are damaged, remove the fuse to that
circuit or turn off the circuit breaker, and call a
qualified electrician

Check all household appliance
cords. If damaged, unplug the appliance and do not use
it until the cord is replaced

If your electrical panel uses
fuses, make sure they are screwed in tightly and that
you have spares. Don't use fuses higher than 15 amps in
normal receptacle and lighting circuits

Water system

Make sure drain valve at
bottom of water tank is closed

Open a hot water tap at a
sink. The tap must be at a higher level than the tank
Open cold water shut-off to tank